Chris Granger/The Times-PicayuneA blighted house at 5505-07 Cameron Blvd. in New Orleans, seen here last week, has been cited for violating the city's building and health codes.

Officials warned that by their next BlightStat meeting -- set for Thursday at 8 a.m., in the 9th floor conference room of the Amoco Building, 1340 Poydras St. -- they wanted to see an uptick in the rate of inspections, hearings and demolitions.

They also hoped to pick up the pace of sheriff's sales, or "code lien foreclosures."

The Landrieu administration has vowed to use the strategy, wherein the city seizes and sells properties that long have carried citations for breaking local building and health laws, to quickly move blighted buildings back into commerce.

Jeff Hebert, the city's blight czar, recently blamed the crawling pace of sheriff's sales under former Mayor Ray Nagin for the mountain of unpaid fines -- about $27.5 million and counting -- that delinquent property have racked up since mid-2008.

Owners have no incentive to clean up their properties or pay the fines if they don't believe the city actually plans to seize and sell their lots, Hebert said, adding that the Landrieu administration has been working to hasten the rate of auctions.

Officials on Thursday also are likely to update their effort to remove FEMA trailers that remain in the city. At the last BlightStat session, the count stood at 212 temporary homes.

Letters sent to those households in early December stated that the temporary homes would not be allowed after Jan. 1, and that inspections this month would result in citations and court hearings that could lead to eviction.

And aides to the mayor may revisit an idea floated by some residents at the last meeting: to broaden the definition of blight to include chronically vacant homes and possibly to apply the higher standard by neighborhood, depending on the overall progress of the area's recovery.

Like ComStat sessions held by the Police Department, BlightStat meetings are internal working meetings. City officials generally take turns reviewing reams of blight statistics, from complaints logged to properties set for sheriff's sale.

They also field residents' comments and questions, though they try not to veer too from the prepared agenda.